The Wayland Union school district is in better financial shape than what was feared near the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year budget last June.

Finance Director Bill Melching told Board of Education members Monday night that about $118,000 has been added to the fund balance, bring the percentage of the budget up to between 7.7 and 7.8 percent. The fund balance at the end of the previous fiscal year was 7.34%, so the improvement almost met the board’s requirements of increasing it every year by at least a half a percent.

Superintendent Norm Taylor also reported the unofficial Fourth Friday count for student population shows Wayland has 2,915 students, seven more than the bhlended count from a year ago. If that figure holds, along with the promise of $7,386 per pupil in state aid, the district stands to collect $21,530,190, which by far is the largest source of revenue.

School officials were concerned about a possible slight drop in student enrollment, but that development was not realized.

The general fund budget set July 1 is for about $26.8 million with just over $2 million in the fund balance. The athletic budget is pegged at about $676,000 and revenue from the compact with the Gun Lake Casino has been estimated at just under $1.5 million. Expenses to be taken out of the casino fund include paying off the science wing addition at more than $290,000 a year and $168,321 annually for four years to equip all students and staff with iPad tablet computers.